I thought that US produce can be organic so long as no nonorganic pesticides are used. Is there evidence that this distinction matters to bee health, which is the big evidence for the argument here?
The explosion of almond and soy milk among WASPy people of European extraction is one of the more bizarre trends I've seen in my short lifetime. Twenty-five years ago it was passing strange to see anyone not drink real milk, and they fed us at least a quart of it every day at school.
Attributing children's milk consumption to the "dairy lobby" is a simplistic view, verging on a conspiracy theory. Milk has been considered healthy for children since forever. It's not because of "pushing" by a "dairy lobby".
Food fads tend to be weird no matter who does it or when they happen. We know so little about nutrition that it always feels (and usually is) cargo cultish to anyone who steps back for a moment.
It just means that lactose intolerance is now recognised and accommodated. The body produces less of the enzyme (lactase) needed to break down lactose as we age, with the result that it ferments in the gut, producing gas. Undigested lactose reaches the outlet as a liquid. I'd rather be thought strange than be farting and squirting out cow nipple juice.
It's virtue signaling. Choosing the soy "milk" at the coffee shop, loudly, demonstrates to the other patrons that you're "woke" and "care about the environment". Never mind that if you actually cared about "sustainability", you wouldn't be living in a state that imports vast amounts of food, water, and energy from hundreds of miles away in the first place.
It's basically a religion at this stage, and virtue signaling lets you pay your penance in advance. One refusal of a disposable straw compensates for one six month backpacking trip in Nepal, or one vacation in Aruba, or something like that.
And this will get modded down into a smoking crater, because people always get angry when you make fun of their religion.
But you are right. They are a problem. Talked to a farmer a couple years back (on Christmas Eve in the stable, watching the new born calves). They would get some 160€ per male calve, barely covering their costs raising them. That’s probably still somewhat better than male chicken though.
Anyway, we need to find ways for more sustainable meat production and consumption. This whole thing is unhealthy in pretty much any level. Really looking forward to all those alternative meat startups.
The effect of pesticides and diseases on bees is a new angle I hadn't heard of before!
The article ends by mentioning the water usage of almond milk, but I wish it would have contextualized that. Almond milk still uses about half the water of dairy milk: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46654042
Can we stop labeling everything evil? It works or it doesn't. If almonds are fundamentally unsustainable at scale, fine. Say that. This is not a children's fairy tale with an evil ogre and a fair prince. Let's stop casting everything as good v. evil. Works or doesn't work is sufficient.
Whatever the ultimate effects are, I highly doubt that almond farmers are sinister, malevolent beings who want to destroy humanity. If there's a better way they can do what they do, I'm sure they'll be happy to do it.
I'm confused about beekeepers complaining about the issue in the article. They can refuse to deal with almond farms if they really care about the bees. This seems like "I care about bees dying, but not enough to stop it". Are there no alternatives in farms?
If the key impact is declining bee populations, it would seem that the current ecology of almond growing is unsustainable. But that should give growers an acute incentive to invest in bee populations, lest bees shoot up in price and wreck the economics of their orchards. If growers aren’t doing this already, why aren’t they?
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 63.9 ms ] threadThis title is garbage, saves me a click. Let me guess though:
-water use
-pesticides
-land use
I'd be willing to bet it still wins over cow milk.
It's basically a religion at this stage, and virtue signaling lets you pay your penance in advance. One refusal of a disposable straw compensates for one six month backpacking trip in Nepal, or one vacation in Aruba, or something like that.
And this will get modded down into a smoking crater, because people always get angry when you make fun of their religion.
Anyway, we need to find ways for more sustainable meat production and consumption. This whole thing is unhealthy in pretty much any level. Really looking forward to all those alternative meat startups.
The article ends by mentioning the water usage of almond milk, but I wish it would have contextualized that. Almond milk still uses about half the water of dairy milk: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46654042
Whatever the ultimate effects are, I highly doubt that almond farmers are sinister, malevolent beings who want to destroy humanity. If there's a better way they can do what they do, I'm sure they'll be happy to do it.
I'm currently addicted to an oatmilk coldbrew latte and I just loove it.
They won't do anything until Uncle Sam subsidizes it.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22023578